Expert’s Population Estimates For China Highlight Controversies Over Official Statistics, Country’s Family Planning Policies

May 25, 2017

New York Times: Expert Doubts China’s Population Number, Saying India May Be No. 1
“…Yi Fuxiang, a Chinese scientist based in Wisconsin, … this week in Beijing … laid out arguments that India may already be more populous than China, a view that has created a controversy about whose numbers to believe in forecasting China’s demographic and economic destiny. … His findings have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Some Chinese experts said that Mr. Yi overstated the problems in the official data, perhaps to fit his longstanding criticism of China’s family planning controls…” (Buckley, 5/24).

Washington Post: Does India have more people than China? A U.S. researcher claims Beijing’s population statistics are wrong.
“…Multiple media outlets in China, India, and beyond quickly picked up the news. If Yi was right, the implications would certainly be big. Not only would it mean that India had already overtaken China as the world’s largest nation — something the United Nations had estimated to happen in 2022 — but that China’s population growth slowdown was worse than many thought and being hidden from the public. … Yi’s status as a passionate activist against China’s family planning policies is well-known and has led some to question his estimates of China’s population…” (Taylor, 5/24).